FIT Fridays: Take off the mask

FIT Friday friends,

How are you doing today? Not just with your weight. How's life?

Do you know that you are God's precious one?

A friend shared recently that she's excited at her weight loss and improved health. She's lost quite a bit of weight this year and feels better than she has in a long time. She's nervous, too, as she's hitting that place she's been before... that "plateau" of weight loss that she's never broken through.

It's not just weight loss that can "plateau." Sure, we talk about weight all the time. It's visible. It's easy to measure. Our societal stereotype says thin people have their lives together. Heavy people don't.

The reality is very few of us have our act together. It's exactly that -- an act.

We need to take off the mask and live the way God designed us. It means breaking through barriers like food addiction, control addiction, and approval addiction. It means turning to the One who created us in the first place.

When Rob and I were first married, I had serious food issues. I wasn't anorexic... but when the finances got tight, I would get scared and control what I could. My issues were food and control -- tangled together in a big knot. I would eat the bare minimum to get through the day. Tiny portions to keep my tummy from growling, but not enough to really nourish me. I had no energy. I got depressed.

The issue wasn't food, it was fear. I didn't trust that we'd have the money to get through. I didn't trust that God would provide for our needs -- even though he loves us more than the birds of the air (Matt. 6:26). I needed control, so I'd limit what I ate to control what I could of how much we spent.

For years, I didn't told Rob about my fears. I just bottled them up and shoved them inside me. Deep down inside. I certainly never talked to God about them.

Eventually, I got to the place I had to deal with it or be stuck. God -- and Rob -- helped me overcome my fears. God helped me let go of control -- for the most part. To succeed, I had to take off the mask of self-control and open my heart to God. Rob was sensitive to my fears and reassured me that God will always take care of us... Just like it says in the Bible.

So, what about you? Are fears keeping you from being who you're meant to be? Do you hide behind food so no one will see you? Do you have issues to tackle, but avoid them, instead comforting yourself by eating?

Whether we are thin or not, we all have fears and issues to deal with. Let's take off the mask and deal with them head-on.

Dear God,
I can't begin to comprehend your love for me. Your love is deeper than the oceans and wider than the seas, but even standing at the edge of the water, I can't see that big. Thank you for loving me that much. Forgive me that I don't trust you all the time. Forgive me for wearing a mask -- hiding my fears with control, comforting myself with food. I know you want to be my comforter. Help me give my concerns to you. I don't want to carry these burdens anymore. They're too heavy. I can't live the life you have for me if I carry the past around all the time. Please, God, help me let go so I can really begin to live.
In Jesus' name,
Amen